Four-acre Depot For Pickfords

8th November 1935, Page 118

8th November 1935

Page 118

Page 118, 8th November 1935 — Four-acre Depot For Pickfords

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rAN Monday, Sir Josiah Stamp,

G.B.E., chairman of Pickfords, Ltd., opened a new depot which that company has had built at Willow Walk, London, S.E.1, for the transfer and storage of goods. Occupying a site of just under four acres, the depot has bays laid out in H formation, all goods inwards being received on one side of the premises. Separate bays; numbered and named, are devoted to services to and from various docks, regular daily long-distance services, London collection and delivery rounds, and rail-borne traffic.

Lister Auto-Trucks and trailers are used for the handling of consignments in the depot, whilst a conveyer and a lift communicate with the large store on the first floor of one of the " legs " of the " H." At present the company is handling 6,000,000 parcels a year at Willow Walk, but in the near future this figure is expected to rise to

10,000,000, Last year, the number of packages dealt with per month increased by an average of 76,000.

All vehicles follow a one-way system of traffic and are weighed on entering and leaving the depot. Mounted on a Lister Auto-Truck is a Skyhi service outfit for dispensing engine oil, gear oil and water to vehicles.

Pickfords, Ltd., occupied its previous depot at Long Lane, SE., for 69 years and has been engaged in transport since the reign of King Charles I. The growing tendency to reduce the size of consignments, due, presumably, to the retailer's desire to keep stocks as low as possible, has increased the need for intermediate handling.

There is ample space at the new depot for 143 motors to load simultaneously and, as the result of its efficiency, the morning delivery already leaves 70 minutes earlier than from the former station.